Intermodal shipping containers are used to ship goods all over the world, wherein the containers can be transported by ship, rail, truck or any combination thereof. While standardized, they can come in a variety of lengths, widths, heights and configurations to accommodate various types of goods. Shipping containers can also include detachable trailer containers used in tractor-trailer units and cargo boxes attached to truck frames, such as on “cube vans” and “moving vans”.
In the practical use of such containers, they are often underutilized when loaded with cargo or packaged goods. In addition, packaged goods stacked within the containers can shift within the container causing damage to the goods contained therein. Boxed goods can also be crushed by other goods stacked above them, again causing damage to the goods contained therein.
The procurement and fulfilment networks of global trading companies are becoming increasingly complex. Today it's not just multinational corporations who manage global supply chains—there are hardly any medium-sized businesses left, which don't have customers or suppliers in Asia, the U.S. and/or Latin America. Additional challenges arise through continuously increasing numbers of supply chain partners, complex distribution channels and diverse product portfolios, as well as higher market standards and customer expectations regarding on-time deliveries and quality of service.
Based on this complexity, online tracking now needs to go far beyond the “track and trace” of a decade ago. It is no longer about simply tracking a shipment from the point of pick-up to the point of delivery, but about achieving visibility throughout the entire supply chain, providing transparency of orders in demand, production, transit, customs clearance, stock, and overall order fulfilment, while monitoring all individual process steps and making the data available to all relevant supply chain partners.
As supply chain complexity increases, together with an accelerating pace of business, supply chain visibility becomes critical. Some companies boast of immediate access to any information they need within their four walls; but this is simply no longer a competitive capability. In the quest for faster go-to-market and time-to-customer, real-time, continuous access and visibility is necessary not only within the four walls but across the extended supply chain. This remains an elusive goal for many companies.
As risks in the supply chain continue to occur and customer demand continues to be less tolerant of disruptions, more companies are recognizing the importance of creating and managing a visible supply chain. Although different interpretations and definitions abound, one way to think of supply chain visibility is: the right information, in actionable detail, on events, orders, inventory, and shipments, up and down, and end to end, updated and presented in real time. This definition—ambitious by intention—sets the goal of having visibility through every tier of the supply base, with every supply chain partner, in real time. This means continuous real-time automated presentation of information about such things as a real-time consolidated view of inventories across the supply chain, real-time stock and materials in transit, event management with real-time alerting and a continuous projection of future inventory levels from demand, inventory, and fulfillment data.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a system for storing and handling goods placed in shipping containers to better utilize the space contained therein and to prevent damage to goods being shipped in the shipping containers.